"I am ready!" she said. "It's No. 1 going, but I think it's time to go, it's time to move up and on."

DiFusco was one of 1,525 full-time students starting their freshman year at the university on Sunday, about 1,400 of whom were moving into campus dormitories, said Ian Day, the associate vice chancellor of Enrollment Management. That number, he said, is "very similar" to the previous year.

Six hundred students were transferring to the campus, and 5.4 percent are international students, he said.

Day said an army of volunteer students and staff wearing bright yellow shirts were helping students move in, pushing bins and showing them where they could find keys to their rooms.

Chancellor Divina Grossman, wearing Nike sports shoes, a blue staff shirt and a yellow scarf blended in with the crowd.

She spent the morning chatting with parents and students.

"We have terrific representation from all over the commonwealth," she said, adding she spoke with students from Chelmsford and Hopkinton, for example.

Students would be able to join in activities Sunday and today such as "Games on the Green," "Small Group Discussions" and "Corsair Olympics Prep," for example, "in order to help deal with some of the anxiety," she said.

Students would also learn where to get dinner, and where to get their books, she said.

Grossman said move-in day was also a "confidence-building experience for the parents."

"They can trust us with their kids," she said. "I am excited for many reasons, but one of them is, we are launching our strategic plan."

Grossman told The Standard-Times editorial board on Friday she planned to make UMass Darmtouth a center for research over the next six years.

"These students are going to enjoy the benefits of all that we are doing with that plan," she said, including by participating in internships.

Grossman called the 12-hour move-in process orderly. It began at 7:30 a.m.

Tracy Brown waited in line with an orange bin to enter the Maple Ridge Hall. "They're very efficient here, I will give them that."

She said the wait was long, but added, "it's to be expected."

Her son, Roberto Brown Jr., said he chose to attend UMass Dartmouth to study electrical engineering because he hopes to play on the football team. As he waited to enter his room, he said he was "very nervous."

"This is a new chapter of my life so I have no idea what is going to happen yet," he said as he and his mother pushed the bin along, making their way toward the entrance of the hall.